After 11-day layoff, Duke looking to respond to loss against Boston College

The last time Duke played a basketball game, it ended in an 89-84 loss to Boston College, 11 days ago.

It was Duke’s first loss of the season. No longer the top-ranked team in the country, No. 4 Duke (11-1, 0-1 ACC) will play its last non-conference game at home before ACC play gets underway. And in the meantime, the Blue Devils are trying to learn from the mistakes that cost them the Boston College game.

Duke’s offense had been on point all season, the best in the country, according to kenpom.com, an advanced analytic site. But Duke’s defense had been its biggest struggle. Players weren’t communicating, therefore they often found themselves out of position, while their opponents scored on open baskets.

Boston College shot 15-for-26 from behind the 3-point line on Duke, and 51 percent from the floor overall on Dec. 9. A lot of the players took it personally, senior captain Grayson Allen said.

So the primary focus in practice was reviewing their mistakes and working on defense.

“I’m happy about this week of practice that we just had,” Allen said. “And I feel like our defense is improving a lot. I feel like we can turn what has been a weakness into a strength, because we’re so athletic. I like our potential to keep getting better, so I’m very happy with the attitude and where we’re at.”

In the past, some of Duke’s best teams have relied on its defense, and shutting down its opponents. Duke has shown it can do that at the end of games. But there have also been lapses.

Allen said it’s not so much individual defense as it is team defense that has been the problem.

“I think we play really good individual defense at times, because we’re so athletic, guys can guard well,” he said, “but we need to do a better job of helping. Guys coming over on the weak side, making sure we’re not guarding air, making sure we’re not hugging our man.”

Freshman forward Marvin Bagley III (21.3 ppg, 11.3 rbg) admitted he was one of those players who was hugging his man and not being quick enough to play help defense at times. He said he caught himself doing that in practice.

“That’s something that I’ve been working on this whole week and I’ve got it now,” Bagley said. “The coaches have showed me small things to help and I think we’ll be ready to go.”

Evansville is 8-2 on the season. The Purple Aces don’t score much (72.3 points per game), but they give up the 16th fewest points in the country (61.9 points per game).

“They’re such a tough team because they’re very precise with everything they do, and all the guys can pass,” Allen, who is averaging 17.2 point per game, said. “When you get shooters spreading out and then guys back cutting, it’s a really tough action to defend.”

Duke and Evansville have never played each other.

Their first matchup will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils have won 138 straight non-conference home games, the longest non-conference wining streak in the country.

“We’re going to have to do a really good job on defense,” Allen said. “Talking is going to be so important with how many times guys are going to come together off the ball and screen. It’s going to be a game where our defense is going to be important to stop them because there might not be as many possessions as we’re used to.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 10:29 AM with the headline "After 11-day layoff, Duke looking to respond to loss against Boston College."